Theater review: Lakeland's take on Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Next to Normal' well worth seeing

By Bob Abelman

Monday, February 4, 2013

"Next to Normal" is not easy to like, although there is much to love about theá Lakeland Civic Theatre production of it.

The play is about a contemporary American family crippled by mental illness. It offers a vivid portrait of a manic-depressive, delusional woman -- Diana Goodman -- and demonstrates how this disease infiltrates and infects her supportive husband, troubled teenage daughter and ethereal son. It also hurls harsh criticism at a medical community ill-prepared to isolate, understand or treat this disease.

In short, "Next to Normal" is serious stuff set to music.

That should come as no surprise. Although the musical earned several Tony Awards in 2009 -- which suggests bright lights, big production numbers and happy endings -- that is no guarantee of a fun evening when coupled with a 2010 Pulitzer Prize. Pulitzer is code for somber and thought-provoking.

The Pulitzer for journalism that year was given to The Washington Post for a series of exposÚs on the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Pulitzer for nonfiction went to David Hoffman's "The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy." Good times.

"Next to Normal" is most certainly somber and thought-provoking, and, under Martin Friedman's sensitive direction, this production is emotionally taxing and thoroughly engaging from start to finish. It is so engaging that you forget to blink during much of the show and forget to breathe during most of it. It is so emotionally taxing that the person you hear fighting back tears throughout the performance is you.

Brian Yorkey's powerful lyrics expose raw nerve to arctic air. Tom Kitt's pulsating rock-operatic music, played by a core of superb musicians armed only with string instruments, percussion, and music director Jordon Cooper's guidance, works you from the inside out. Much like "Rent" -- the last musical to win a Pulitzer -- singing dominates over dialogue (of which there is little) and dance (of which there is none).

Consequently, the most essential aspect of any production of this musical is the vocal talent on stage. In this production, the talent is exceptional.

Amiee Collier, as Diana, is a voice to be reckoned with. She owns each angst-filled song, such as "Didn't I See This Movie," and captures all the emotion in the more delicate ones, including "I Dreamed a Dance." Every song is a self-disclosure of sorts and Collier bares her soul with astounding fortitude.

Too much fortitude, actually. At times, Collier's Diana seems to be amused rather than exhausted by her drug- and depression-induced disconnect with reality as she goes through the motions of normalcy and drags her shell of a self from one attempted medical treatment to another. This approach to Diana requires audience members to work a little harder than they should to feel her pain, but feel it they do by the time she sings "Catch Me I'm Falling" half-way through the first act.

A very talented ensemble helps manifest and maintain the anguish that permeates this play, and does so with fine acting and beautiful voices. They are Rick McGuigan, as Diana's husband; an incredible Emma Wahl, as her daughter; the haunting Ben Donahoo, as her son; Pat Miller, as the daughter's boyfriend; and Timothy Allen, as assorted doctors.

These players strut and fret upon a bare stage that is surrounded by black curtains and lousy with lamps of assorted sizes and styles. The stage is framed by walls composed of scattered, crisscrossing threats that run from floor to fly space, creating a lighted labyrinth through which the characters wander. While Trad A Burns' scenic and lighting design gives form to Diana's delusions and the shadows of her mind, its novelty and metaphoric function wears thin rather quickly.

By lacking layers and sufficient space to adequately isolate dramatic moments, their impact is frequently lessened. Characters have nowhere to go to when they storm out of the house in a rage (there is no outside) or seek refuge in the privacy of their bedroom (there are no rooms).

These are mere distractions, really, in a production that effectively delivers for our consideration the Goodman family nightmare. No, "Next to Normal" is not easy to like, and it is not easy to watch. But it is theater most certainly worth attending.

"Next to Normal" continues through Feb.17 at Lakeland Civic Theatre, 7700 Clocktower Drive, on the Lakeland Community College campus in Kirtland. For tickets, which are $7 to $15, call 440-525-7134 or contact martinfriedman98@yahoo.com.